Da run
This was my 2nd Triathlon of the year. Another sprint. Opted out of the Olympic distance race simply b/c my open water swimming is still... not quite good enough for Olympic distance racing. I'm taking some open water clinics in May to correct the problems I'm having swimming in open water in mass-start events. After 15 years of bumping elbows at high speed in road races, I am having to learn to deal with a whole new experience of being kicked and bumped in water, unable to see the person directly in front of or behind you. But practice makes permanent, as they say in swimming.
I was 2nd overall out of 309 participants in the Men's Sprint Distance, and won my age group (35-39). I lost the race by 49 seconds, mostly b/c of fumbling w/my wetsuit in the transition area and losing sight of my bike b/c someone had knocked it off the transition rack (thanks, BTW, whomever you are). I had the transition all figured out pre-race, having walked through it a couple of times and rehearsed what I'd do during the race. But it all went for naught when I couldn't find my bike during the actual race. It was there, in the same spot I'd left it, only it was leaning over on it's side b/c someone had literally thrown their bike on top of mine, knocking mine over in the process. I basically lost the race b/c of this "mistake" on my part (my bike and run splits were faster than the winner's, but he beat me in the transitions). So much for marking your transition area. Maybe next time I'll do what the wolves and lions do and urinate in a circle around my bike to keep the competitors away from my territory.
My running split improved by 0:20/mile from my race just 2 weeks ago, which is encouraging. At the Spenco Triathlon, I ran a 6:37/mile 5k pace. Not blazing fast, but at the end of a Triathlon, your running pace is naturally slower than your "open" 5k or 10k running pace due to the accumulated fatigue of swimming + biking. This week I had the 2nd fastest run split with 6:17/mile. A noticeable improvement by anyone's standards. I need to get that down to about 6:05/mile to compete against the elite men.
My bike split was less-than-satisfactory, even though I had the fastest split of the Age Group men. I was about 2 mph slower on average than the elite men, who covered twice the distance. But I could have held, and most likely increased, my speed over time had I raced the Olympic Distance (4 loops vs 2 loops for the Sprint). That may sound counter-intuitive but it takes your body some time to adjust from the swim to the bike, and by the time you are up to full speed on the bike and into your rhythm, it is time to start backing off a little bit and thinking about / saving some energy for the run. I was just settling into my rhythm on the bike when I had to transition to the run.
All in all I am happy w/the result, it being only my 3rd ever Triathlon. I am hoping to improve my swimming and running a bit more over the next 6 weeks for the Capital of Texas Triathlon (Olympic Distance).
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